


The Future

by lxaah11



Category: Star Trek: Discovery
Genre: Boreth, Drabble, Gen, Graphic Description of Injury, Major Character Injury, Permanent Injury, Seeing the future, Serious Injuries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-05
Updated: 2020-01-05
Packaged: 2021-02-27 12:20:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22136959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lxaah11/pseuds/lxaah11
Summary: Captain Christopher Pike reflects on his future after Boreth.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 9





	The Future

**Author's Note:**

> As always, please let me know if you notice any errors :)

After Talos IV he thought he knew the pain of being burned alive, how the flames felt licking his skin. From a childhood fable they had said, but they were wrong because he hadn’t burned in hell that day, no matter how hard they had tried to make it so. He can’t have. He could only describe his current situation as a living hell, and it was far worse than anything they had inflicted upon him.

His skin felt like it was melting from his bones. The explosion had ripped apart the right side of his face and the was radiation seeping into his body. The air was thinning out, the flames eating away at the oxygen that was left, his lungs left screaming for breath. The body of the cadet he couldn’t save lay next to him, mangled beyond recognition, while the horrified faces of those who had got out were pressed against the protective glass. Dazed, he dragged his weakening body towards them, reaching his hand out in the hope that there was still a way out. There wasn’t. The safety protocols had kicked in and the room had locked down, sealing in the radiation, and him along with it.

He could see the cadets' mouths moving, but all he heard was the ringing in his ears. He could smell his flesh burning, but now all he felt was a slight sting, his nerve endings having finally burnt away. Darkness was beginning to creep into his vision as the last of his strength slipped away. His hand slipped from the glass and his head hit the floor, as he finally slipped into a deep sleep.

Part of him wished he’d never wake up, he knew what came next, just as he knew this would happen. There were so many times he could attempt to divert his fate and disregard every word Tenavik said, but he resisted. After all, if he refused to go on this training exercise he would only be condemning another CO to this fate. Or, if his replacement had a greater sense of self-preservation than himself, he would be condemning the cadets to death. He’d like to think that any officer of Starfleet would save others before themselves, but he knew this wasn’t necessarily the case. Whichever way, he refused to pass off his fate to another, he wouldn’t be able to live with himself. So now he found himself facing his future, a future where he can only communicate through beeps. A future where he will never again command a starship. A future where he will never again play with his nieces and nephews. A future where he will never again ride Tango. A future where everything he cared about doing was taken from him.

A future that didn’t seem much like one at all.


End file.
